Friday, April 18, 2014

News Headlines (490) 18 April 2014

ONLINE TODAY

► Now is the time to think differently and push yourself to try new things. You are sure to find that your great energy can help you to make a real difference in the world, and people take notice. Relationships go through transitions, and it's not healthy to resist them. You need to stay open to change and understand that just as you grow as a person, they do too. You want the best for your friends and loved ones, so you need to support their experiments and cheer when they need it. If someone's new endeavor is taking up their free time, so be it. You can't expect them to keep their life exactly the way you'd like it to be, can you? Give them freedom and they'll give it back.

"A great leader never sets himself above his followers except in carrying responsibilities." — Jules Ormont

► Four-way talks call for end to Ukraine violence - By Arshad Mohammed and Alexei Anishchuk
GENEVA/MOSCOW - The United States, Russia, Ukraine and the European Union called after crisis talks for an immediate halt to violence in Ukraine, where Western powers believe Russia is fomenting a pro-Russian separatist movement. |Video

► Scientists clone stem cells from adults - By Sharon Begley
NEW YORK - Scientists have moved closer to the goal of creating stem cells perfectly matched to a patient's DNA, creating patient-specific cell lines out of the skin cells of two adult men.
* Video: High hopes for space grown stem cells. Feb. 2 - Researchers at the Mayo Clinic are preparing to test their theory that stem cells grow faster in microgravity. With a grant from an organisation that promotes research aboard the International Space Station, Dr Abba Zubair will send a batch of cells into space where he believes the future of human tissue generation with stem cells may lie. Ben Gruber reports.

Feb. 2 - Researchers at the Mayo Clinic are preparing to test their theory that stem cells grow faster in microgravity. With a grant from an organisation that promotes research aboard the International Space Station, Dr Abba Zubair will send a batch of cells into space where he believes the future of human tissue generation with stem cells may lie. Ben Gruber reports.

Abba Zubair is a medical researcher. He once dreamed of becoming an astronaut but now he's reached a happy compromise. His medical science experiment is about to be launched into space. Zubair, a stem cell researcher at the Mayo Clinic, has been awarded a $300,000 grant to grow stem cells in microgravity aboard the International Space Station. Zubair says that simulated studies have shown that stem cells could potentially grow faster in microgravity than on Earth. He hopes his experiment aboard the ISS will prove it, while also revealing any developmental problems that may emerge. (SOUNDBITE) (English) ABBA ZUBAIR, STEM CELL RESEARCHER, MAYO CLINIC, SAYING: "When cells are stimulated to grow one of the risks is the cells can transform to act more like abnormal stem cells. And do you know what abnormal stem cells is? It's cancer cells. So transformation to become malignant is another factor that we want to look act." While one batch of cells grows in space, another batch will be grown on Earth. Apart from the presence of gravity, the growing environment will be the same. Zubair says this will allow his team to analyse the impact gravity has on stem cell growth. If the initial experiment proves successful, and microgravity proves to be a more suitable environment for stem cell growth, Zubair says the next challenge will be to transform the cells into tissue, and ultimately organs. Zubair envisions a future where replacement organs can be grown in space for people who need a transplant later in life. . (SOUNDBITE) (English) ABBA ZUBAIR, STEM CELL RESEARCHER, MAYO CLINIC, SAYING: "So think about it, you can have a spare heart or liver or kidney stored somewhere in space and you just give a phone call when you need it. So we get your stem cells we grow tissue or organs and keep it for you until you need them." And while that scenario may be decades away, Zubair says the research could have implications for the near future. He says that if stem cells can replicate significantly faster in space, then doctors will be able to treat their patients more effectively here on Earth.

► Garcia Marquez, godfather of magic realism, dies at 87. Gabriel Garcia Marquez, the Nobel-winning Colombian author who used magical realism to tell epic stories of love, family and dictatorship in Latin America, died Thursday at the age of 87.

I'm so sorry. When I wrote your name in Zapatista, you are still alive but at that time I said you were dead. I wrote your name with the word "late", and a few days later I have edited your name without the word "late".

Now you really die. I feel no need to edit the word "late" for your name, because the word "late" is no longer there and here.

Have a long sleep. We will always remember your name through your books.

Ehheheh ... ...I was giggling to myself to read Putin's quote about whether Obama would save the Russian President from drowning, "He is brave and courageous, of course he would." While he, who is being praised looks very stupid and ugly, and, indeed, it is so he is, eehhehe ... America, America,...please be more selective in choosing your president, okay? Do not disgrace your superpower image by selecting a marijuana addict becomes your president, for example.

Putin certainly is a sympathetic character and that's what I like from the eastern manners which I'm sure it's difficult to be learned by the West: Praising the fool people.

Tsk! Can you do something to depose Obama? I'm tired of seeing his stupidity. Is he really really stupid or he just can't read the political situation and its impact on the economic stability in Europe)?

Oh, nice to not see Mikhail Prokhorov's name is not listed here. I feel this is a list of stress people's names who may not know how to enjoy the small pleasures with big effects in life. Well, actually I do not deny one reality: I'm happy with the presence of rich people. But I do not like if their existence can't help to alleviate the poverty around them.

Well, at least, there is one interesting thing of this married couple. Anyway, I am happy to see Muslims become millionaires. It dismisses the notion that Muslims are poor people
because they are just the slackers who like to vent their lust in a polygamous system through the Islamic teaching.

Haiyaaa .... I've told you, Ukraine, "Do not play like a hero in front of Russia! Do you understand about the power classification? Your military force is not the same as Russia's military force. Russia does not have the heart to attack you because it's like hitting a naughty little boy. Thus, a judicious punishment over your delinquency: You are not given a good meal, you know? ... ehehehe... but don't forget to pay your debt, okay?

■ 'We don't need Alaska, sold it once, have enough cold territories' - Putin. During an annual Q&A session, a Russian pensioner asked Vladimir Putin about his plans to annex Alaska. The president answered that Russia sold the territory once and has no ambition to try and get it back. He added that Russia has plenty of cold territories without Alaska.

■ Snowden asks Putin LIVE: Does Russia intercept or store comms? Russian special services are using special media for tapping and spying only on the decision of the court, says Vladimir Putin answering the question by former NSA agent Edward Snowden on how Russian government spies online.

■ Lavrov: Russia, US, EU, Ukraine agree on de-escalation roadmap.Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov holds a press conference following a Geneva meeting of top diplomats from the EU, Russia, Ukraine and the United States, who held talks on the recent crisis in Ukraine.

■ Putin's annual Q&A session 2014 (FULL VIDEO). Russian President Vladimir Putin is holding his annual televised question and answer session in which he is expected to speak about Crimean integration into Russia and the current crisis in Ukraine.

I never just rely on my five senses to see all things in this world. And I'm most scared of the situation when I close my eyes in my head I can't even see anything at all. And I can no longer smell anything, hear anything, but can only feel one thing: the fear itself. And unfortunately, I can't share this fear to anyone except my own self.

A girl is surrounded by tulips at Keukenhof, in Lisse, near Amsterdam. Keukenhof is a showcase for the Dutch floricultural industry, with a special emphasis on flowering bulbs. PHOTOGRAPH BY: Peter Dejong / Associated Press

A veterinary staff member of the Sumatran Orangutan Conservation Program in the Sibolangit district of northern Sumatra island examines a 14-year-old male orangutan found with air gun metal pellets embedded in its body. PHOTOGRAPH BY: SUTANTA ADITYA / AFP/Getty Images

A National Park Service photo of P-22, a 4-year-old male mountain lion that was recaptured in late March by Park Service biologists. The mountain lion, known to traverse the hills in and around Los Angeles' largest park, has been exposed to rat poison and is suffering from mange. PHOTOGRAPH BY: National Park Service

Visitors stroll Hadrian's Wall at Birdoswald, England. The wall was started in AD 122 on the orders of Emperor Hadrian to keep the Picts from Scotland out of England. A referendum on whether Scotland should be an independent country will take place next fall. PHOTOGRAPH BY: Jeff J Mitchell / Getty Images

CZ

"Thank you for your perception! I like your romantic side, even if I do not always comment and I'm glad that you're in my circle of friends."(Courtesies by: Wolfgang A. Gerhardt)

Wolfgang A.Gerhardt : May be you like this Sunday collage

Cisca Zarmansyah : Before today, there never was a person doing this to me. You create a simple matter to look special. This is a special thing for me.

Cisca Zarmansyah : Thank you. I love it. I love you, my friend. ♥

CieL- FreYa Ceastle : Hmm, he's so nice...

"I am me.
In all the world,
there is no one else exactly like me.
Everything that comes out of me
is authentically mine,
because I alone chose it --
I own everything about me:
my body,
my feelings,
my mouth,
my voice,
all my actions,
whether they be to others or myself.
I own my fantasies,
my dreams,
my hopes,
my fears.
I own my triumphs and successes,
all my failures and mistakes.
Because I own all of me,
I can become intimately acquainted with me.
By so doing,
I can love me
and be friendly with all my parts.
I know there are aspects about myself that puzzle me,
and other aspects that I do not know
-- but as long as I am friendly
and loving to myself,
I can courageously and hopefully
look for solutions
to the puzzles and ways
to find out more about me.
However I look and sound,
whatever I say and do,
and whatever I think and feel at a given moment in time
is authentically me.
If later some parts of how I looked,
sounded,
thought,
and felt
turn out to be unfitting,
I can discard that which is unfitting,
keep the rest,
and invent something new
for that which I discarded.
I can see,
hear,
feel,
think,
say, and do.
I have the tools to survive,
to be close to others,
to be productive,
and to make sense
and order out of the world of people
and things outside of me.
I own me,
and therefore,
I can engineer me.
I am me,
and I am okay."

VIRGINIA SATIR
(American Phychologist and Educator, 1916-1988)

About Me

"When the Nazis came for the communists, I remained silent. I was not a communist. When they locked up the social democrats, I remained silent. I was not a social democrat. When they came for the trade unionists, I did not speak out. I was not a trade unionist. When they came for the Jews, I remained silent. I wasn't a Jew. When they came for me, there was no one left to speak out." - Martin Niemöller